By David Butcher.
Politics plays a significant part in organisational life. The second edition extends the influential ideas developed in the original book with more practical advice about working with organisational politics for personal and organisational benefit. Drawing on recent research, with up-dated examples, it provides an essential and practical insight in the centrality of politics in organization life.
Trials of personal budgets, where people receive direct payments to allow them to arrange and buy their own support services instead of getting them from their local council, have raised concerns about the effect on older people.
Read more on CONCERN ABOUT OLDER PEOPLE COPING WITH PERSONAL BUDGETS…
An early challenge for the newly launched Local Better Regulation Office is to improve consistency for businesses that trade across council boundaries.
The role of the Office is to help councils and fire services improve protections for consumers and workers and provide better regulatory support to business. Its remit includes trading standards, environmental health, licensing and fire safety services.
Read more on NEW REGULATION OFFICE SEEKS GREATER CONSISTENCY ACROSS COUNCIL BOUNDARIES…
This report from Communities and Local Government sets out responses to the consultation document issued earlier in the year and indicates the general approach that will be taken to give more people a say in local spending. The Government’s ambition is for participatory budgeting to be used in all local authority areas by 2012.
The Audit Commission is likely to extend new style short notice inspections to council housing services and Arms Length Management Associations. The extension is also likely to include other services such as homelessness. The Commission has already decided to introduce short notice inspection for Housing Associations.
Read more on WATCHDOG PLANS EXTENSION OF SHORT NOTICE INSPECTIONS TO ALL SOCIAL HOUSING…
The charity TAG (Transforming a Generation) has called on local government to help fund projects for getting young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) into work.
The pilot programme was launched on 22 September in West London and the first part, which concentrates on employability, has just been completed. The young people are now into the second part which focuses on gym based learning and training. One of the boys who completed the first part said: “At first I thought the early stuff was boring because I wanted to get to the gym stuff, but near the end of the second week I realised how much stuff I’d learned and how little I really knew about what it’s like to work in a serious job.”
Read more on CHARITY WANTS LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO HELP GET NEETS INTO WORK…
By Peter J Reed
The author argues that leadership is about converting vision into reality via strategic thinking and co-ordinated action. It is about defining and clarifying a vision and inspiring others not only to ‘sign up’ to the vision, but to commit themselves enthusiastically to sharing responsibility for the process of implementing it.
A campaign has begun to tackle what the Training and Development Agency for Schools sees as the barriers to effective continuing professional development. It will be led by Tim Brighouse, the former London Schools Commissioner and one-time Director of Education at Birmingham City Council.
Neighbourhood watch programmes have been operating in the UK for more than a quarter of a century and this report assesses their effectiveness. Neighbourhood Watch is based on the principle that encouraging neighbours to look out for and report suspicious behavior to the police will bring about a reduction in crime. This in turn will deter potential offenders from committing a crime if they believe that areas where the programmes operate are too risky and improved police investigation and enforcement will incapacitate offenders.
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